Truth in politics

By Jeff Shultz
Publisher/Managing Editor

February 09, 2008 02:51 pm

— The former French President Charles De Gaulle once noted, “Since a politician never believes what he says, he is quite surprised to be taken at his word.”
I sometimes think that's exactly what is happening during this current race for president.
With the Super Tuesday race over and done with, the two remaining candidates from each party will start picking apart each other's words more than ever.
So, when a presidential candidate makes a claim about their opponent or an issue, how do we know the declaration is true, half-true or completely false?
Well, there's a web site you can visit to see who is telling the truth or a lie in this presidential campaign.
PolitiFact.com is a project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly to help voters find the truth in the presidential campaign.
Every day, reporters and researchers from the Times and CQ will analyze the candidates' speeches, TV ads and interviews and determine whether the claims are accurate or not.
The site is very user friendly and unbiased. You can search claims by the candidate, the issue or even the political party of choice.
PolitiFact.com even has a “Truth-O-Meter” which gives you the statement or assertion the candidate made and a graphic of a meter, which tells you if the candidate was telling the truth, or not.
For example, when John McCain claimed he received a large portion of the conservative votes in the Florida Republican Primary, the Truth-O-Meter showed his statement was “Barely True.”
The web site reported, “Among self-described 'conservative' Republican voters, 29 percent voted for McCain, according to a CNN exit poll. That's hardly a huge number. In fact, it's less than the 37 percent of conservatives who voted for Mitt Romney.”
Or, when Hillary Clinton declared, “So that 2005 energy bill was a big step backwards on the path to clean, renewable energy. That's why I voted against it."
The Truth-O-Meter labeled that claim “False.”
PolitiFact.com noted the bill was actually a boon to the renewable fuel industry.
According to the site, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandated 7.5-billion gallons of ethanol and other biofuels to be blended into gasoline by 2012 — the largest such mandate ever enacted and one widely credited with sparking an ethanol plant construction boom across the Midwest.
The law also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars toward biomass research and the production of biofuels derived from the leaves, stems and stalks of a plant rather than corn kernels used to make ethanol.
Check out PolitiFact.com the next time you hear a candidate or one of their supporters make a claim about their opponent or an issue being debated.
Knowing who is telling the truth and how often they are telling the truth just may help you make up your mind as to who to vote for come November.
And remember what Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
—72 —
Speaking of politics, it was reported this past week that ultra-conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter announced they would not support John McCain if he should get the Republican nomination for president.
And that is a bad thing?